Manners
by Moore12
Summary: "It sounds crazy, doesn't it? Especially after everything they've done. But…but I don't think they know any better. I know I didn't." In which Clint decides to give Pietro and Wanda a second chance, like he was given many, many years ago, with a little help from his wife. Set during Age of Ultron. Clint/Laura. Reviews always appreciated.


**Manners**

When Laura's eyes flutter open, it's still dark out. A glance at the clock on the nightstand tells her it's just after 1:30, and she's about to snuggle back into the covers and go back to sleep when she realizes Clint isn't curled around her anymore.

Laura rolls over and sees he's sitting up, his back pressed firmly against the headboard. She can only make out his silhouette, but she can still tell he's tense. "Clint, you okay?"

"Just thinking," Clint says softly, his voice lacking the muted panic usually present in it after one of his nightmares. "Go back to sleep."

As Laura reaches over and rests a hand on his thigh, she asks, "About what?"

In response, Clint takes her hand in his and intertwines their fingers. After a long moment of silence, punctuated only by the distant chirps of a cricket, he admits, "The twins." Laura waits for him to continue, knowing he will, and he takes a deep breath before elaborating slowly, as if unsure what words to use to describe how he's feeling, "I'm just…worried about them, I guess."

"I thought they carried a big stick?" Laura teases gently even as she squeezes his hand tighter to let him know she understands. From what little Clint already told her, she knows they're not old enough to be out of college yet, which means they're certainly not old enough to be wading into a war they probably don't even understand.

"Yeah, they do," Clint says, and she can hear the twinge of regret in his voice. "I did too when I was their age."

She should have known. Laura's careful when she responds, needing to know where her husband's head is but not wanting to send him on an unwanted, and unnecessary, trip down memory lane. "So you want to give them a second chance?"

Clint sighs heavily as he sinks back into his pillows. "It sounds crazy, doesn't it? Especially after everything they've done. But…but I don't think they know any better. I know I didn't. I…"

"Clint…"

"When I was their age, I never would've thought I could have any of this." Clint gestures with one hand into the darkness, and Laura can hear the old hurt in his voice. She knows it had taken him years to stop listening to his inner abused, unloved child, and she hates seeing this side of him again. "I didn't think someone like me could. And then Fury…he gave me a second chance. Took one hell of a chance doing it too, but he taught me some manners and look at me now…"

Clint's voice trails off, and Laura doesn't fill the resulting silence. Instead, she scoots closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder and throwing one arm over his broad chest. Almost immediately, he begins to card a hand through her hair, but she can tell the movement is automatic, absentminded. His mind is elsewhere. Sometimes, she wishes she could see what he's seeing, but she knows he wouldn't want that.

Over the years, stories from his past have trickled out one by one, triggered by missions, by holidays and family milestones, by things as mundane as going to the pharmacy for children's Tylenol. Every time, he apologized for telling her. Every time, he asked if she still wanted to be with him, knowing what he had done, who he had been before Fury cornered him in a back alley in Prague and put a bullet in his calf to keep him from running. Every time, she told him the same thing. And she whispers it now. "I love you, Clint Barton. And I know you'll always do the right thing."

"I love you too," Clint mumbles, and he's quick to bury his face in her hair. Laura knows it's to hide the tears he's losing his battle against, and she wants to tell him he doesn't always have to be so strong for her, she can help bear his pain, but she doesn't. She believes, deep down inside, he already knows that. "I just don't…how do you know that?"

"You're not that person anymore," Laura reminds him, as she always does and always will. One day, she prays she won't need to anymore. This time, to hammer home her point, she adds, "You do realize it's been almost 25 years since you joined S.H.I.E.L.D., right?"

Clint laughs, and the sound makes Laura smile because it's so genuine and warm. This is the man she fell in love with back in that tiny bar in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. "Guess I am an old man now. Too bad S.H.I.E.L.D. fell apart before I could retire. We could've used that pension."

Laura can't help but raise an eyebrow even though she figures he can't see it. "Did S.H.I.E.L.D. even give pensions?" After feeling him shrug against her, she laughs herself and quips, "That's what I thought."

When they fall back into silence, it's more comfortable than it was before. Laura begins to drift, being lulled to sleep by the strong, steady beating of her husband's heart. It's so nice to have him home; selfishly, she wishes he would stay forever, but she knows he won't, not until he believes he's balanced his ledger at least. Right before her eyes slip shut, Clint suddenly asks, "Laura, Fury…he told you about that night…didn't he?"

Even though she really doesn't like where this conversation is going, Laura replies because they promised to never lie to each other, "Yeah, he did. Why?"

"Why didn't he kill me? After everything I'd done…" Clint says, and his voice is so impossibly small, Laura's heart sinks as she realizes his inner abused child has taken over for the first time since a few weeks after the Manhattan incident. "He never told me…Kept saying it doesn't matter now but…"

Choosing her words carefully because she can't afford to send the wrong message, Laura tells him the truth, "He said he knew you could be this one day." To keep it light, she adds playfully, "Even if you did need to be taught some manners back then."

"But how did he know?" Clint insists after he chokes back a harsh sob.

If only he could see what everyone else sees, Laura reflects sadly as she pushes herself into a sitting position, turns on the lamp on the nightstand and then takes Clint by the shoulders. He tries to duck his head, but she grabs him by the chin and tilts it up so he has to look her in the eyes.

And his eyes, glassy with the tears he refuses to let fall, are filled with such regret and self-loathing, she can't help but think of what Fury told her all those years ago while they waited for him to come out of surgery after an ill-advised five-story jump. "He knew the moment he looked in your eyes. He saw you didn't want to be Hawkeye, the notorious assassin who had over 200 kills to his name in four years. You hated what you were doing. You hated yourself. You wanted to change. So he decided to take a chance on you because he saw you were a good person at heart, even then. And, Clint?"

Clint doesn't answer. A single tear manages to break past his defenses, but Laura wipes it away before it can run the length of his face. As she does, she says fiercely, hoping he'll finally understand, "It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. Not anymore. You know why?"

For the first time, Laura doesn't have to supply the answer to that question. "I changed," Clint breathes, and Laura smiles as his eyes begin to brighten. "And if I could change…they can too."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! As you can probably guess, I was inspired to write this piece by the "manners" line in Age of Ultron. I know the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't touched on Clint's past at all, but I like the idea that he wants to help the twins because he was once like them (or a whole lot worse).  
_

 _Just to clear things up before the questions are asked, I went off of Clint's age in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is 44 (I know, it stunned me too, and I admittedly usually write him younger, like mid-to-late 30s). I chose Fury to give him the second chance, and not Coulson, because, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Coulson is only six years older than Clint. I like the idea that Clint is around the same age Fury was when they first met when he helps the twins (as Fury would have been 43 when Clint was 20)._ _As for the way I wrote Laura, I'll leave it at this: behind every great man is often a great woman._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please drop a review and give it a favorite. I love hearing what people think; it truly inspires me to keep writing. Until next time. ~Moore12_


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